It’s taken until Week 12, but the stage is finally set for the nastiest rivalry in the NFL to renew when the Falcons kick off against the Saints. The margins could not be thinner, as both teams have split
this series down the middle over nearly 60 years of hatred, sharing the spoils with a 56-56 all time mark.
The Falcons owned this series from the early days and throughout most of history, winning nine games in a row immediately after losing the inaugural matchup, in 1967.
Even after the Saints fought back throughout the ‘80s, Atlanta put them back in their place in the back half of the ‘90s, winning all 10 matchups from 1995 throughout the end of the decade, and continuing to build on that success in the Mike Vick era.
The Saints have leveled the playing field by chipping away over the course of nearly 20 years, starting with Sean Payton’s arrival in 2006. Since then and through last season, they are 26-12, which has been enough to undo decades of work from the Falcons to match this historical mark much quicker than anyone thought possible.
Last Meeting
The 6-3 Falcons, who seemed destined to finally end their playoff drought and raise their first division banner since 2016, traveled to New Orleans for a date with the reeling 2-7 Saints, who were in the midst of a seven game losing streak which cost Dennis Allen his head coaching job. Nonetheless, a chance at ruining Atlanta’s season was their Super Bowl.
Following an uneventful first quarter the fireworks started in the second, with New Orleans kicking a field goal and hitting a 40-yard lightning strike to Marquez Valdez-Scantling to take a surprising 10-0 lead.
Immediately following Atlanta’s touchdown scoring drive to answer, MVZ caught a 67-yard pass and finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown to punch the Birds in the mouth to the tune of 109 receiving yards and two scores in two drives to restore the 10-point lead. The Falcons failed to cut into that lead before the half as Younghoe Koo’s field goal was blocked from 35 yards out (but it looked like it would have missed anyway).
Atlanta managed to restore some order in the third quarter, getting to within a field goal thanks to an explosive 37-yard Bijan Robinson touchdown run. After clamping down defensively, they were set to tie things up midway through the fourth when Koo missed a 45-yard field goal, before a Tyrann Mathieu interception on the next drive really took things into danger mode.
Still down a field goal, Kirk Cousins got one final drive and got to midfield before a Chase Young strip sack proved to be the crucial play. Despite the Falcons recovering, it cost them 19 yards and their final timeout as that was too much to overcome.
That was the first of four consecutive losses as the season spiraled, with this game being the one where Cousins suffered a shoulder injury, derailing both his and Atlanta’s season.
